It seems to me, that the older we get, Christmas comes around a lot sooner. I have just finished digesting my Thanksgiving Dinner it seems, and now I'm looking at the Christmas Season already! I remember seeing Christmas commercials beginning in early November. Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday are in full swing to get us into the holiday gift buying mode.
I think about those folks who won't have presents under the tree this year, let alone a tree. There's just too much focus on gift buying and little or no focus on the coming of Jesus Christ. Christmas should be a time of getting closer to God. The focus for this Advent season is: "A Life Giving Christmas."If we truly want a life-giving Christmas, drawing closer to God needs to take priority over any material desire on this year’s wish list. For week one of Advent, we focus on living into eternal hope, carrying that hope for others, knowing that no matter what we go through, we are never alone. God will break through our circumstances and shed light. The focus of the service and other activities of the week should put one’s Christmas list in perspective to seeking God first.
(Rev. N. Neelley Hicks,Special Projects Manager Rethink Church,United Methodist Communications)
I think about those folks who won't have presents under the tree this year, let alone a tree. There's just too much focus on gift buying and little or no focus on the coming of Jesus Christ. Christmas should be a time of getting closer to God. The focus for this Advent season is: "A Life Giving Christmas."If we truly want a life-giving Christmas, drawing closer to God needs to take priority over any material desire on this year’s wish list. For week one of Advent, we focus on living into eternal hope, carrying that hope for others, knowing that no matter what we go through, we are never alone. God will break through our circumstances and shed light. The focus of the service and other activities of the week should put one’s Christmas list in perspective to seeking God first.
(Rev. N. Neelley Hicks,Special Projects Manager Rethink Church,United Methodist Communications)
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